Making the Training Function Return on the Investment

Monthly Archives: March 2017

The past few weeks I’ve been exploring different franchise businesses that are from different industries and several different business models. But the one thing they all have had in common is a very robust training plan for new franchise owners.

Built into the franchise fee are in-depth online courses, webinars, and weeklong classroom training. Everyone had a plan for keeping the skill development alive even after the initial training had been completed.

Coming from the corporate world where only a handful of organizations spend this much time with new hires, I have not only been impressed at the support, but started to wonder why franchises spend so much time on training?

The first reason is that franchise owners are often new to owning a business and often industry experience is not a requirement to own a franchise. So the potential franchise owner is desperate to learn and won’t sign up unless the company can provide thorough training.

The second reason is the company realizes that these new franchise owners are almost certain to fail without a comprehensive training process.

Both are excellent reasons for franchises to spend time on training!

Now this is where I get a little steamed when it comes to comparing the corporate world that spends so little time on their onboarding process and comprehensive training plan.

Just like a franchise owner, a new employee also wants to be able to perform their job quickly and is looking for the right training support to fill in the gaps. But the difference seems to be that too many companies are not as vested in their employees being successful or they would provide better training processes. Ouch! The truth can hurt at times.

Having now reviewed several franchise fees that need to be paid to own a franchise, they are not that different than the average compensation package for the first year of an employee’s time on the job. So one might ask does it matter who is paying this money.

In a franchise scenario it is the owner of the franchise who is risking the investment and wants the training. Yet in a corporate setting it is the employer who is risking the investment and passes on providing the training. It makes no sense, but happens daily in companies all over the country!

Is it time to invest in our employees, or is it time for companies to shore up their investments with comprehensive training? Maybe it is time for both!